Letter: We have been here before

7/5/2017, 4 p.m.

While Illinois families were celebrating Independence Day, Springfield lawmakers dug deeper into their wallets rather than address decades of irresponsible spending and mismanagement. The massive income tax increase that they approved is unfair to the citizens they are supposedly serving. It is egregious that so many politicians chose to place an even heavier burden on those families and businesses that have not yet left the state.

In approving these new taxes, lawmakers ignored the "Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households" issued just two months ago. This alarming report suggests that 62 percent of Americans can't cover unexpected expenses and almost a quarter cannot pay all their monthly bills. Taking more resources away from citizens to feed the reckless spending habits of government will only exacerbate these problems.

We've been here before. From 2011-2014, Illinois politicians raised the income tax while promising to pay down the backlog of bills and stabilize the pension crisis. But that didn't happen. Unpaid bills and pension debt are even more out of control.

Instead of using those extra tax dollars in an effective and efficient manner, government leaders squandered it.